Maserati Alfieri Concept Stuns on Pebble Beach Concept Lawn

The Porsche 911 and Jaguar F-Type will soon have new competition from Maserati, as the Italian manufacturer’s Alfieri sports car concept has reportedly been greenlit for production for 2016. Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March, Maserati brought the 460-horsepower Alfieri to the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance: Concept Lawn, where we were able to get a closer look at the Italian automaker’s concept.

Based off of Maserati’s GranTurismo MC Stradale sports coupe, the Alfieri’s wheelbase is approximately 9.4-inches shorter than its platform-mate. In fact, at a little over 106-inches, the Alfieri’s wheelbase is only around 3-inches longer than that of the Jaguar F-Type.

Like the F-Type, the Alfieri is relying on its striking exterior design to differentiate it from the venerable Porsche 911. Inspired by the Pininfarina-designed 1954 Maserati A6 CGS-53, the Alfieri’s wide and deep-set grille, low-mounted headlights and wide haunches give the sports car concept a distinctly Italian look. Unfortunately, the concept car’s silver paint fails to highlight the Alfieri’s subtle design cues. A darker exterior color would likely better promote the Alfieri’s fetching details, so we expect to see that soon.

While the Alfieri concept car sources its 4.7-liter V8 engine and six-speed semi-automatic transmission the European GranTurismo MC Stradale, the production car is expected to use multiple versions of the V6 engine found in the Ghibli sedan. Base Alfieris will be rear-wheel-drive and will reportedly produce 410 horsepower, while higher-end all-wheel-drive Alfieris will offer customers 450 and 520 horsepower, respectively.

Out on the Concept Lawn of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, the Alfieri concept car’s exterior looked nearly production-ready compared to other concept cars like the Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo. As such, we expect the production Alfieri to look very similar, if not nearly identical, to the elegant concept car.

Inside, the Alfieri is textbook concept car. The 2+2 sports car’s minimalist interior is a mix of new-age technology and old-school simplicity. A large display screen dominates the center stack of the Alfieri, while classic touches like imitation oxidized steel for the car’s floor, a material the company notes was commonly found in racing cars of the 1950s, and a chronograph-style clock maintain a connection to the brand’s storied almost 100-year-old history.

Despite strong competition from Porsche and Jaguar, we think the Maserati’s sexy Italian looks, high-performance V6 engines and expectedly rich interior will help the Alfieri find its share of sports car buyers when it arrives to market in 2016.